Archives for December 2015

This is a bit of an unusual DAP (digital audio player), although I suppose not really since we are in the era of smartphone domination. One of the priorities of ZTE’s flagship Axon Pro line was hifi audio. This phone goes for $400 in unlocked new condition, but if you want to save, you can get it used. The blue color scheme goes for $291~ in “Used – Very Good” condition at Amazon Warehouse Deals and there are plenty of listings there, so price pressure may lower it further. Meanwhile the silver color scheme goes for $293~ in “Used – Very Good” condition. This too has multiple listings so there’s the possibility of further discounting because of supply and demand.

This is the 32GB version. The 64GB version goes for more. Sadly it does not have a microSD slot, but it has 4GB RAM and runs on the Snapdragon 810, with Quick Charge 2.0 (so you don’t have to wait too long for recharging), and comes bundled with JBL earphones. Plenty is written about it online, so one could spend time researching it while waiting for the used prices to drop further down.

The new condition price for the Grado GR10e in-ears is $400. As of the time of writing, there is one listing in “Used – Like New” condition (original damaged packaging) for $359~ by Amazon Warehouse Deals actual (not marketplace sellers). The official Grado store (4OurEars) is the only one selling it there (fulfilled by Amazon), so this may have been a return of a 4OurEars purchase (I am only guessing, I do not have magic powers to know this for certain!).

The Sennheiser HD 598 Special Edition proved to be a blockbuster seller during Amazon’s Black Friday holiday sales according to their press release (look for it by brand because it’s a loooong press release). And as such, it was bound to have its fair share of returns.

As of the time of writing, there are seven different listings of it in Used condition by Amazon Warehouse Deals actual and more by other sellers there. The prices currently are $105~ (was $99) for “Used – Good” and $105~ for “Used – Very Good” (these sold out!). Even if these prices are not low enough, you may want to pay attention to them in case supply puts more price pressure on them.

The open-back over-ear Sennheiser HD 700 is on sale again, you can get it in new condition for $450 with free shipping, with a limit of five per customer, at Amazon by Amazon actual. This averages 4.5 out of 5 based on 88 customer reviews. It was in a bit of a rock-and-a-hard-place price-situation when it first came out, squeezed by the HD600/HD650 and the HD800/HD800S. But now its price is closer to the 600/650 power duo.

This particular offer expired too… The Hifiman RE 400 in-ears are on sale for $59 with free shipping, in all three of their variations, the “i” model with a mic/remote for iPhone/Apple-devices, the “a” model with a mic/remote for Android, and the non-letter model without a mic/remote. The sellers offering them are AudioWatt and World-Wide-Audio fulfilled by Amazon.

The holidays are over, some of their prices are inching up to their “normal” levels… The closed-back over-ear new-condition Audio Technica M40x are now on sale for $65 with free expedited shipping at authorized dealer Adorama.com. This is a limited time promotion (I do not know when exactly it expires).

Back on sale again, the open-back over-ear Sennheiser HD 518 headphones go for $68 with free shipping, with a limit of five pairs per customer at Amazon by Amazon actual. This is the entry-level model of a three-model HD-5xx line-up and averages 4.4 out of 5 with nearly 400 customer reviews… Meanwhile the two headed top of this line, the HD 598 is on sale for around $144 in either the new Special Edition (limit 2) or the earlier Ivory color scheme.

This offer continues: the open-back over-ear Sennheiser HD 558 headphones (the middle of the three model line) are on sale for $99 at Amazon by Amazon actual (limit 5), where they average 4.5 out of 5 based on nearly 750 customer reviews.

This offer expired: According to the Fry’s Electronics Promo Codes offers for email subscribers for Thursday 12/24/15, the open-back over-ear Sennheiser HD 558 headphones (the middle of the three model line) will be on sale for $90 at either their website or the brick and mortar stores. You have to use the individualized promo codes found in the emails they send to their email subscribers…

And now we have a Denon DAC/amp joining the Audio Technica bundling party. This time you get both the Denon DA-300USB DAC/Headphone-Amp and the closed-back over-ear Audio Technica M70x headphones, without rebates, without coupons, for $400 with free shipping at Adorama.com, authorized dealers of both.

Meanwhile the M50x, not wanting to be left out of this bundling round, are bundled with the Tascam DR-22WL 2-Channels Handheld Audio Recorder with Wi-Fi for $169 with free shipping, also at Adorama.com.

If you have Amazon Gift Cards burning in your e-pocket and want to put them to work, the Shure SE-215 in-ears are on sale for $89 with free shipping. This is new condition, with either the black or clear color scheme. They have detachable cables which is not as common with in-ears, especially in this price range. They average 4.1 out of 5 with nearly 1900 customer reviews. These are sold by Amazon actual along with various marketplace sellers over there.

And now a triplet offer. You pay $350 and for that you get the Audio Technica M70x headphones, along with the Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 2-Input/4-Output USB 2.0 Audio Interface, and the Samson MTR101 1″ Diaphragm Condenser Microphone with Shockmount and Pop Filter. No coupons and no rebates, just proceed to checkout as usual. Of interest whether you need all three or two of them. Or if you can trade with friends the one(s) you don’t want/need. This offer is at Adorama.com and expires by Dec-31-2015.

What a coincidence, here’s another headphone named HD7 on sale. This time it is the Presonus HD 7, a variation of the Superlux designs, on sale for $39.50 with free shipping at Amazon by Amazon actual. It averages 4.4 out of 5 based on 28 customer reviews. Off the top of my head I can’t recall which is the equivalent/similar Superlux model. They are AKG-homaging – yes, it’s a new verb, because language is a living thing so we can make up words on the fly 🙂

This is a limited time flash sale, Adorama is offering the new condition Sennheiser HD 7 PRO closed-back over-ear DJ headphones for $129 with free shipping. They come with a variety of accessories including case and extra cables and extra velour earpads.

The second generation of the Fiio X3 digital audio player is bundled with the Audio Technica M50x closed-back over-ear headphones for $230 at Adorama.com which is an authorized dealer of both. The X3 is the same color, what changes is the color of the M50xs (plural) in the bundles: black M50X or white M50X… Offer ends 12/27/15…

The budget closed-back Tascam TH-02 headphones are on sale again, going for $15 (was $17) with free shipping in the black color scheme at Adorama.com. Offer expires by 12/27/15. No coupons/rebates needed… These average 4.2 out of 5 with almost 400 customer reviews at amazon.com…

Earlier in the week, we mentioned Amazon’s crazy HD 650 bundles. But the HD 600 has its own crazy bundles as well. We start with a three headphone bundle (you are reading right!) offered for $400. For that, you get, in new condition, the following headphones:

Sennheiser HD 600 open-back over-ear open-ears

Beyerdynamic DT-990 PRO (250 ohm) open-back over-ear

Audio-Technica ATH-M30x closed-back over-ear

Given that the first two are 300 and 250 ohm respectively, amping is perhaps the way to make the most of these. Both have been around for a while and there are countless forum threads talking about amping options for these.

There are no coupons, no rebates. You just add the bundle to the shopping cart and proceed to checkout as usual and that’s it.

This is not a bad deal at all. For $400, Amazon bundles the new condition open-back over-ear Sennheiser HD 600 headphones and a $150 Amazon Gift Card (plastic gift card delivered by mail). That puts the headphone at $250 since you can use the gift card for its face value or even sell/trade it for close to that amount. Or hand it off to someone else as a holiday gift. No coupons, no rebates, just add to cart and checkout.

TIP: in the remote chance the gift card arrives before the headphones ship, you may be able to apply the value of the gift card towards the purchase. This rarely happens, in the lightning strikes neighborhood.

The Apple versions of the second generation closed-back over-ear Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 headphones has dropped a bit more, going down from $250 to $230 at Amazon.com. The Ivory and Black color schemes are on sale but not the Brown. The Android versions remain at $250.

The closed-back Beyerdynamic DT 1350 On-Ears are on special for a limited time, you can get them for $140 after a $40 mail-in rebate at Adorama.com. The offer ends 12/28/15. Rebate details in the PDF file.

The lightweight black color scheme of the Sennheiser PX 100-II On-Ears is currently on sale for $46 with free shipping, with a limit of five per customer, at Amazon by Amazon actual. These average 4.4 out of 5 based on 500+ customer reviews. These are folding like sunglasses. They are open-back.

The open-back over-ear Beyerdynamic T90 Tesla headphones are currently on sale for $519 with free shipping at Amazon by Amazon actual along with some of the marketplace sellers over there. It’s possible that this price may be a computer price-match of one of the marketplace sellers, because outside Amazon the prices are higher.

The closed-back over-ear Beyerdynamic T70 headphones, part of the Tesla line-up, are on sale for a limited for $329 with free one day shipping at Amazon by Amazon actual. Limit one per customer. You have to manually select the free one-day shipping. These are the home-use version, without the small “p” in their name. The “T70p” are the portable ones (which Amazon incorrectly calls “T70 Pro” in the title, but correctly calls them “T70p” further down the product description)… In addition to free shipping, these are also eligible for free returns, so you can give them a try if you are 50-50 on the potential purchase…